Been up and running since last year July. I started it very low tech with like only Amazon swords. I added more plants about a month ago... Then on the 12th August I added co2... Running a co2 diffuser. 800lph internal filter. 2500 power head and 1450 lph canister filter that gives me around 18 times tank volume... Dosing ei ferts Monday to Friday... Lightning 2 x 18w Led 6500k tubes and 1 x aquastar 30 watt 10000k tube. Co2 on at 12h00, aquastar on at 14h00 and then the 2 x 6500k leds on at 15h00. 2 x leds on till 21h30 and co2 goes off at 21h15...

This tank was in my Jebo Bow fronted tank. I posted a few photos of it on a Forum and to my surprise I was asked could it be used in a Calendar. This meant sending the photos un touched ready for publication, I remember taking many photos and finally selecting what I thought was the best of them.
Another Low Tech tank
This was the last tank to be pulled down.

The above steps took place in the 9 months or so leading up to December 2013 when Step 12 commenced with purchase of a 35 litre ADA nano tank. The following notes and pictures show where I've got to in the following 5 months together with the ups and downs along the way!

I look forward to feedback from all of you who have walked this path ahead of me…………

So in line with what seems to be the convention I'll start with my current tank spec etc as of May 2014:

Tank - Having resisted the urge to start with a bigger tank (on the basis that there was a good chance I would end up with an expensive algae filled swamp) I initially went for a 45cm (30 litre) plain glass tank but the first symptoms of the aquascape bug caught hold and I returned it to the shop the next day and 'upgraded' to an ADA 45P optiwhite version….. I sign of things to come!

Filter - started with a basic 'hang on' filter but soon realised flow was really poor and stick from misses ref constant trickling noise and motor hum proved too much. Replaced after a month with really good value Tetratec EX400 unit (circa 54 quid) that is silent and low maintenance. Had to hacksaw down the pipework a bit to make it all fit in my small tank. So far I have resisted the urge to go with glass lily pipes as I quite like the surface rippling effect the spray bar gives.

Lighting - I struggled to find a 45cm T5 unit so had to settle for a 30cm unit. Started with just the one Boyu 24W (3x8W) which looks OK for the money (circa 24 quid) but realised after a few weeks that my HC were looking a little yellow and needed more light. Bought a second unit and after a some hacksaw modifications to the supporting brackets managed to fit this to the tank - The far tube actually hangs over the back of the tank but has by accident created a perfect back light! Lights have a mix of 3x white tubes and 3x red.

CO2 - Initially purchased a TMC nano set with disposable 95g cartridges + glass diffuser but soon regretted this as remembering to switch gas on and off every day quickly became a pain. Also these units seem extremely difficult to set and adjust to a constant flow rate. Looking at the way the glass diffuser works it also seemed to waste a lot of gas as bubbles seem to reach the surface before dissolving. After a month or so invested in a dual stage regulator fixed to a soda stream bottle and fitted with solenoid and timer. Complete set including high grade bubble counter and bazooka diffuser & gas cylinder was about 120 quid but money well spent as it seems to work really well. I am particularly impressed with the bazooka type diffuser as it makes really fine bubbles that all seem to be suspended or dissolved in the water. I am able to maintain desired ph levels with bubble rates circa 0.5 bps and my initial 500g gas bottle is still going strong after 4 months use. Only problem I had was an annoying 50hz buzz from the solenoid when activated … this was soon fixed after stripping down the unit and stretching the spring in the solenoid peg a little to give it more tension.

Heating - Started with usual 25W in tank heater but changed to a 200W Hydor unit once I had gone to an external canister filter. Probably a little big for the job but ready for a bigger tank in the future.

At this point I'm going to stop as i don't think I have mastered the art of adding pictures from my flicr account to this thread (first go at this!). If anyone can drop me ante on how to do this I will continue!!!]]>Wed, 23 Aug 2017 09:09:12 +0000https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/aquascape-number-1-retro-journal.33160/
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/aquascape-number-1-retro-journal.33160/Simon DaySimon Day31First attempt - Nano 34LView attachment 109783

View attachment 102707View attachment 102708View attachment 102709View attachment 102710]]>Wed, 09 Aug 2017 16:19:49 +0000https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/ada-60p.48870/
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/ada-60p.48870/Rob SteerRob Steer2Betta and Bloody Mary's in the Spec V
I took some time tonight to sit and watch the tanks and relax, and thought I'd share an update on my Spec V. It houses my one year old Betta, and a small developing family of bloody Mary Neo's sometimes I forget how nice neocaridina look; when the emphasis is on crystal and other varieties of shrimp

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk]]>Sun, 23 Jul 2017 23:44:35 +0000https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/75l-desert-aquascape.50268/
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/75l-desert-aquascape.50268/SandstoneSturgeonSandstoneSturgeon5Heavy On The Plants..Final full tank shot: